The box office surged on Friday as Ted and Magic Mike scored some of the best numbers ever for the R-rated comedy genre.
Tyler Perry's more tame Madea's Witness Protection also did good business.
Directed by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, Ted grossed $20.2 million on Friday for a weekend debut in the $51 million to $52 million range -- the top opening of all time for an original R-rated comedy and eclipsing the $45 million earned by The Hangover in 2009.
Ted, starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis, will have no trouble winning the weekend race and received an A- CinemaScore. Media Rights Capital produced and financed the $50 million film before sealing a distribution deal with Universal. Scott Stuber also produced.
Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike -- billed as a comedy-drama and loosely based on star Channing Tatum's early days as a stripper --Â also has plenty of reason to celebrate. The Warner Bros. pic almost caught up with Ted on Friday, grossing a substantially better-than-exepcted $19.4 million for a $40 million-plus weekend.
Magic Mike, benefiting from intense interest among women, racked up strong advance ticket sales, in line with previous female-skewing films including fellow Warners pic Sex and the City. That's part of the reason why Friday's number came in so high.
As a result, box office observers believe the gap between Ted and Magic Mike will widen as the weekend progresses. Magic Mike earned a B CinemaScore.
The cast of Magic Mike also includes Matthew McConaughey and Alex Pettyfer. Warner Bros. acquired North American rights to Magic Mike for only $7 million.
Witness Protection -- marking the first time Lionsgate has opened a Tyler Perry film in the summer -- tied with Brave for third-place on Friday with $10.3 million. Witness Protection, receiving an A- CinemaScore, is likely to gross in the $25 million range for the weekend, good enough for fourth place (Brave should come in third with $30 million-plus).
The soft entry of the weekend is DreamWorks and Disney's adult drama People Like Us, directed by Alex Kurtzman and starring Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, Elizabeth Banks and Michelle Pfeiffer. The adult drama, earning a B+ CinemaScore, grossed $1.4 million on Friday for a possible $4 million weekend.
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